Chapter 76: Poisoned Truth

Amanda's POV

"You know . . . I never really liked hospitals and clinics . . ."

"Really now?" I ask as I raise an eyebrow at the man lying in the hospital bed before me. He shoots me a small smirk, which makes me wonder if he was really telling the truth or just kidding with me. "Why?"

"Well, for starters, they have seriously butt ugly hospital gowns . . ." Randy tells me with a serious expression on his face. I couldn't help but laugh at that one, especially when he said it with such a serious look to boot. "Like seriously, just look at me. It's like I'm wearing a paper dress for crying out loud. And the worst part is that it has a serious gap right in the back. If I could walk right now, I would have to hold this gown closed in the back with my hand so that no one would see my ass crack as I walk down the hallways."

"Yeah . . . We wouldn't want people to see your pasty ass traveling down the clinic halls," I say as I cover my mouth to hold in my laughter. "Next thing you know, your pale booty will be one of the trending topics on social media."

"And that would just give me more of a reason to avoid social media at all costs," he tells me as he manages to do a small nod. "Babe, can you help me sit up? I can't bear looking up at the ceiling any longer."

"Alright, but we better do it slowly. We don't want you going all numb again by moving abruptly . . . again," I say as I get up from my chair. I gently slide my hand under Randy's back as he slowly arches his back upward. I bring my other hand onto his chest and slowly help him up into a sitting position; quickly sliding his pillow right against the small bedframe before helping the Viper lay back on it. "There you go . . ."

"Thanks . . . and sorry," he tells me with an apologetic look. "I've become much more of a hassle now that I can barely move without going numb momentarily."

"You're not a hassle . . ." I say as I shake my head. Randy shoots me a disbelieving look, so I quickly correct myself. "Okay, so you've become somewhat of a hassle, but it's not something that I couldn't handle."

"Uh huh . . . It's been six days since Xavier bit me and I haven't made that much progress in my recovery," Randy says with a shake of his head. "I think it's becoming more and more apparent that Nate's going to be standing in for me at work until I get better."

"Your brother already said that he's happy to help you out by standing in your place at work. He did a great job the last time you were unavailable to compete in the ring," I say with a small shrug. "And I'm sure you'll recover from the poison soon enough Ran."

"I hope so, but for now, you are just going to have to add me to the list of things you're taking care of at the moment," he tells me with a small smirk. "The twins . . . the wedding planning . . ."

"I think I have some space for you on my list," I say as I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. I quickly take it out and check on the screen to see that I received a text message from Becky. "Oh great . . . It's a message from your sister. She's coming . . . with your mom and dad."

"I figured this was going to happen sooner or later," Randy tells me as he lets out a sigh. "How far away are they?"

"According to this message, they just reached the parking lot . . ." I say as I put my phone back into my pocket, just as Randy lets out another groan. "They'll be here any minute now."

"And I didn't get enough time to prepare . . ." he tells me as I reach out to grab his hand. "You, Monica, and Nate are the only people that know the truth about my military history. You're the only three that I've ever told in the past 16 years . . . Who knows how my sister and my parents will react to what I have to tell them?"

"I'm sure they'll react well to you if you just be honest with them . . . Damn, I hate sounding so clichéd . . ." I say with a shake of my head as Randy lets out a short chuckle at my comment. "Just try to keep an open mind . . . Crap, that one sounded clichéd too."

"It may have sounded clichéd, but it's still good advice anyway . . ." he tells me with a reassuring smirk on his face. "Mind giving me a good luck kiss before I have to face the music?"

"Sure . . ." I say as I lean forward until I reached his lips. Since Randy's mobility was extremely limited at the moment, I had to be the one that initiated the kiss this time around. I connected my lips to his and took over from there, going slow in order to match the pace that he was inevitably forced to go at so that he wouldn't go temporarily numb again. I separate from him as soon as I hear Becky's voice from somewhere down the hall, a small smirk showing on my face as I sit back down. "Was the kiss good enough to bring you good luck?"

"We're about to see . . . right about now . . ." he says as his parents and sister walk into the room. "Mom, Dad, Becky! It's good to see you guys again!"

"It's good to see you finally awake son . . . I was worried sick . . ." says Elaine as she walks over to the other side of her oldest son's bedside. "You were unconscious for five days Randy. Do you know how much that worries a mother?"

"Calm down Mom . . . At least he's awake now, and that's all that matters . . ." says Becky as she comes to her brother's rescue. "How are you feeling Ran? I heard you gained a tendency to go numb ever since you woke up yesterday."

"Only if I move too quickly," Randy tells her with a smirk. "Other than that, I can manage small movements, but I have to do them pretty slowly."

"At least you can manage that," says Becky as she shakes her head in approval. "Mom was worried that you had ended up being completely paralyzed or something for the whole car ride."

"No I wasn't . . . I wasn't worrying that much," says Elaine as she turns to her daughter. "Besides, I'm a mother. Worrying about your kids is part of the job description."

"As a mom of twins now, I can actually relate to that sentiment," I say as I shake my head as Elaine and I exchange a knowing look. "And speaking of twins, I really need to call my mom to check up on the girls."

"I think you can save that call for later 'Manda," Bob finally says, his first sentence since stepping into the room. "Right now, there's something that we need to discuss. Randy, we really need to talk."

"I know . . . I was pretty much expecting this," Randy tells his father as the two lock eyes. "So, what would you like to know Dad?"

"Son, I respected your privacy and never really asked you about what happened during your time with the Marines after you came back home after only a year," says Bob as he closed the door, giving us some form of privacy for the moment. "I haven't asked you about any of it for the past 16 years, and after what happened to you in that interrogation room six days ago, I think it's time that the rest of us got some answers."

"And answers you shall get. I've been keeping this from you guys for way too long . . ." Randy tells them as his face turned serious. ". . . It's time I told you guys the truth."

"Is it a truth that I'm going to like?" Elaine asked as she sat down in the only other chair in the room.

"Well . . . we're about to find out, now aren't we?" Randy says with a short chuckle as he turns to his father. "So, what would you like to know first?"

"I have a lot of questions for you son," says Bob as he walks over to stand next to his wife. "But my main one trumps all the others at the moment. Randy, who exactly is Rochelle?"

"Rochelle is someone that I wish to forget about if I can help it to be honest," Randy starts off as I feel his hand start to come over my own. "Rochelle is a fellow vampire who I met in the mess hall during the first day of camp. I didn't find out that she was a vampire until I saw her sucking the life out of a human cadet. She wanted my help to dispose of the body, but I told her no. She was the one that caused it, so she had to fix it . . . I said this straight to her face and left, but unfortunately, she didn't take being denied so well."

"Ah . . . sounds like the beginning of a girl becoming a nutcase kind of story," says Becky as she shakes her head. "Please continue. . . ."

"Anyway . . ." says Randy as he shot his sister a narrow eyed look. "I never realized that my time at camp would go downhill from there. Over time, Rochelle slowly gained control over the entire base. She became a keen manipulator and trickster. She managed to turn friend against friend and ally against ally. She was behind the disappearances of some of the people at camp. Accidents were happening back and forth. She basically turned the camp into her own personal playground and everyone were her little puppets . . . well, everyone except me."

"Except you?" asks Elaine. "How?"

"Rochelle always asked me to join her side, but I told her no every single time," says Randy as he continued with his story. "She always promised me these different things, including a position as one of her right hand men, but every time, I still said no . . . She didn't like that I rebuffed her every time she asked, so she decided to punish me by making my life a living hell at camp until she finally decided to kick me out."

"She kicked you out of camp?" Becky asks with a scowl on her face. "I thought the story was that you went AWOL one too many times and got put in military prison before you were finally discharged from service."

"That's the story Rochelle wanted you to believe, and that I let you guys believe for the past 16 years," Randy says with an apologetic look on his face. "The truth is that Rochelle staged a whole scenario where I did went AWOL, but it was a shapeshifter that was posing as me that did the deed."

"A shapeshifter posed as you so that it appeared that you went AWOL?" Elaine asks, her face appearing shocked as this new revelation came to light. "Then where were you when this happened?"

"I was knocked out cold in the kitchen freezer . . . Rochelle managed to get a lot of vervain into my system without me noticing. I still haven't figured out how she did it though."

"I've never heard this part of the story before . . ." I say as I finally jump into the conversation.

"I guess that part really slipped my mind at the time I told you it . . . Sorry," Randy tells me in apologetic tone of voice. "Anyway, Rochelle framed me with the whole going AWOL thing, but I was the one that served the sentence in the military prison."

"It was a sentence that you should have never gone through in the first place," Elaine says adamantly as she crosses her arms. "She basically ruined your military career Randy."

"She did, but I probably would have been discharged without her help anyway . . ." Randy admits as a thoughtful look comes across his face. "I wasn't one for listening to authority in camp in the first place. My constant insubordination and disregard for my superiors' orders would have gotten me discharged anyway if Rochelle hadn't interfered first."

"You disregarding your superiors' orders . . . I can so see you doing that," says Becky as she shakes her head. "You weren't one for listening to Mom and Dad anyway, especially during your teenage years . . . Plus, you did skip more Council teen meetings than I can count."

"You did?" Elaine and Bob ask their son as their parental stares came down on him.

"What? Nate and Becky did it too!" Randy says in his defense as he shot his sister a disbelieving glare.

"But not as much as you did!" says Becky as she points back at her brother.

"Way to throw me under the bus sis . . ." the Viper grumbles as I give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I could throw you under a monster truck with all my knowledge on all the things you did behind Mom and Dad's back . . ." says Becky as a small smirk comes across her face. ". . . Just be glad you're a 35 year old man instead of a 16 year old teenager. Mom and Dad's punishments can't work on you now."

"Yeah, be glad for that Mr. . . ." says Elaine, who looked like she wanted to ground her son right here and now. "If you were still a teenager, I would have sentenced you to your room till you were 50, and I'm being perfectly honest with you here."

"Well . . . I'm glad that I'm an adult now then . . ." was all Randy said to respond to his mother's statement, his face looking visibly nervous as his mother stared him down.

"How about we get back to the actual situation at hand?" I suggest to break the tension in the room.

"Alright then, here's my second question," says Bob as he does a small shrug. "Why does Rochelle want you to join her, after all these years? Why now?"

"She wants to take over the western section of North America," Randy tells them bluntly, and I couldn't help but look on in amusement at the deadpan expressions that suddenly came across their faces. Randy was looking on in amusement as well, and he looked like he was holding back a chuckle. "Yes, Rochelle wants to take over the entire western section on North America. Not just the U.S. Canada and Mexico are included."

"Yep . . . Rochelle really is a crazy, psychotic bitch," Becky says rather bluntly as she shakes her head. "She can't be serious."

"Oh . . . she's very serious," Randy says with a shake of his head. "When it comes to Rochelle, whenever she says something, she means it. Trust me, I know."

"Well . . . I better go make a call to a few of my friends out West than. I got to go warn my fellow coven leaders that a crazy vampire is going to try to take them over . . ." says Bob as he walks out the room, taking his phone out of his pocket as he went.

"I knew I forgot something . . ." I hear Randy mumble under his breath as I feel his finger rub circles around the top of my hand. I shoot him a reassuring smirk before turning my attention back on Becky and Elaine, who were staring in the direction Bob had just went off to. "So, are you guys mad at me for hiding this from you for so long?"

"I'm just glad you finally decided to tell us after all this time son," says Elaine as a reassuring smile comes across her face. "It must have been hard to keep this to yourself for over a decade."

"Did you tell anyone before us?" Becky soon asks her brother with a serious expression on her face as she walks over to the bed, getting as close to her brother as possible. She got close enough that she was all up in Randy's face, much to the amused Viper. "Did you tell Nate before me?"

"Nate, 'Manda, and Monica . . ." Randy tells her simply as a childish smirk comes across his face.

"You are so lucky that Mom is here in the same room with us because I would have so slapped you in the face right now," she tells him with a mean scowl as she shoots daggers at him. "How could you tell Nate before me?"

"Uh . . . you weren't traveling around the country with me when I finally decided to share my story with others. . ." was all Randy said as he narrowed his eyes at her out of smugness. Becky actually hissed at her brother in response before walking back to her spot against the wall, her hair hitting him in the face as she walked away. "The hair whipping into my face was not needed."

"It wasn't intentional, but I'm glad it happened . . ." Becky says with a grin as her phone starts to go off. She quickly plucks it out of her purse and checks the screen before putting it back with a sigh. "Mom, we better go grab Dad and go. The meeting is going to start in half an hour and it takes 45 minutes to get to the club from here."

"Oh that's right . . . I almost forgot," says Elaine as she jumps out of her chair so fast that you would think something stabbed her in the butt. "I hate to cut the visit short Randy, Amanda, but we seriously have to go . . ."

"That's alright . . . You can always visit later anyway . . ." says Randy as his mom carefully gives him a hug. ". . . Well, as long as it's within visiting hours."

"There is that . . ." says Elaine as she lets her son go. "Becky, say bye to your brother. I'll go get your father so he can say bye before we leave."

"Alright . . ." says Becky as her mom walked out the room. Once she was out of sight, Becky quickly walked over to Randy's bedside and promptly punched him in the shoulder, which made the Viper grimace in pain. He tried to reach up to touch the spot where Becky punched him, but that was a bad move. As soon as he tried to raise his arm, his body went temporarily numb . . . again. "Huh, your body does go numb if you move too quickly."

"I will so get you back for this Becky!" Randy says through clenched teeth as he shoots daggers at his sister. "Once I get better, you are so going to get it!"

"But until then, enjoy your very limited mobility big bro . . ." Becky says with a childish chuckle as she walks out the room, just as Bob walks into the room. "See ya Ran!"

"Randy, are you okay?" Bob asks with a small smirk on his face as he observes his stone faced son. "You look a little like a limp noodle right now."

"Becky punched Randy, he reacted, and now he's momentarily numb . . ." I tell him with a smirk as Bob walks over to Randy's bedside. "So you're going to have to be careful with how you say goodbye to him."

"I'll just give you a cautious tap to the shoulder and then I'll be gone," Bob says as he did just that. "I'll see you later you two."

"Bye Dad," Randy calls out as his father laves the room while I settle with a small wave. "I seriously need to get Becky back for the punch."

"I know you'll do it eventually . . ." I say as I lean forward so that I was hovering over his upper body. "How much feeling do you have in your body right now Ran?"

"It's starting to come back. I should have it all back in a couple more minutes . . ." he tells me as I press a kiss to his temple. "Babe, with you hovering over me like this, it's giving me some ideas."

"Too bad you can't act on them in the current condition you're in," I say with a pout on my face as I give him another kiss to the cheek. "I could seriously imagine you right now just taking me right on this hospital bed."

"Damn it babe! You just read my mind!" Randy whispers to me as I press one kiss to the side of the neck that wasn't taped up with a bandage. "To be honest, that's actually another fantasy that I so want to act out on you."

"If only the situation was different . . ." I say with a small pout on my face as I hear a familiar voice coming closer from somewhere down the hall. "It sounds like your doctor is coming in for a checkup."

"Oh great . . ." he tells me with a sarcastic edge to his tone as I get up out of my chair and head for the door. "Where are you going baby?"

"I'm going to go on a little walk right now . . ." I say with a chuckle as his doctor, a short, pudgy balding man who smelled like Swiss cheese, walked into the room with a slightly creepy grin on his face. "Have fun babe!"

"Oh . . . great." I hear Randy say, his voice sounding slightly strained as I walk down the hallway with a smirk on his face.

Normal POV; An hour later

"You just had to leave me alone with that creepy doctor . . . You just had to leave me," the Viper grumbled at his fiancée as she pushed him out of his room in a wheelchair that he had to use during his stay in the clinic. "The checkup was not fun babe. It wasn't fun at all."

"At least you got through it baby . . ." Amanda said with a big grin on her face as she pushed him toward the elevators. "Besides, it wasn't even one of those full body checkups anyway. The doctor only checked to see how far your body progressed with passing out the poison that's still in your system."

"And it wasn't much, to be blunt . . . Most of it is still inside me," Randy mumbled with a scowl on his face. "And the doctor is still not having much progress with developing an antidote for it."

"I guess you just have to be patient until an antidote is made or your body finally eliminates the poison," said Amanda as the two reached the elevators. "Until then, just be glad the doctor gave the okay that you can go outside to get some fresh air."

"If only I could go outside under my own power . . ." Randy said as he watched his mate press the down button. "But no, I'm stuck in a wheelchair because my mobility is limited thanks to Xavier's poison."

"Do you want me to wheel you back to your room then?" Amanda asked him with a scowl on her face as she watched the elevator doors slide open to reveal an empty cart. "Do you really plan to keep complaining like this?"

"No . . ." Randy said as she pushed him into the elevator. "I'm just irritated because I'm making such slow progress, that's all."

"You'll get better soon enough baby . . ." said Amanda as she pressed the button for the ground floor. "Let's just try to enjoy the momentary freedom you have for now alright?"

"Fine . . ." Randy said with a defeated sigh as the elevator door slid closed and the cart started going downward. "You know what . . . we really need to go on a vacation after this."

"A vacation?" Amanda asked him curiously. "And how long have you been thinking about this?"

"I just thought of it," said the Viper as a smirk graced his face. "C'mon babe. The idea of a vacation must sound appealing to you doesn't it? Look, we don't even need to wait until the vacation weeks in August. You and I both have paid vacation days that we haven't used yet . . . Just think about it baby. You, me, the twins, and maybe Alanna if I could convince Sam to let me take her along, just getting away from it all for a little while . . . No wedding planning, no wrestling . . . Just the five us as a normal family."

"It does sound promising . . . Hunter and Sam wants the storylines to focus more on the younger talent, so we won't really be missed from work in the first place, but they expect you to compete in Money in the Bank, so we'll have to plan the vacation for after that pay-per-view," said Amanda as a thoughtful look came across her face. "If they do want you in a storyline after Money in the Bank, we could always get Nate to pose as you . . . But what suddenly brought the whole vacation idea on Randy? This is different even for you."

"I just want to get away from it all for a little bit I guess . . . You know, to rest and recharge my batteries," Randy said with a chuckle as the elevator doors opened up. "C'mon baby, the idea does sound appealing right?"

"It does . . ." said Amanda as she wheeled him out of the elevator and toward the back of the building where the exit to the backyard courtyard was at. "But . . . but where exactly would we go on vacation anyway?"

"Hawaii?" Randy suggested off the top of his head. "Hawaii's always a good place to go."

"Hawaii . . . I like Hawaii . . ." said Amanda as a smirk graced her lips.

"Hawaii it is then . . ." said Randy as he was wheeled outside. "As soon as I stop going numb with every quick movement I make, we are packing our bags and making travel arraignments for Hawaii. Oahu or Maui though?"

"Anywhere is fine as long as it's in Hawaii . . ." said Amanda as she pushed Randy over to an empty metal bench on the side. Once she got Randy positioned right next to the bench, she took a seat right next to him and took his hand in hers. ". . . Hmm, it would be nice to just get away from it all for a while . . ."

"See . . . I knew you would like the idea . . ." said the Viper as he noticed the slight change in expression on Amanda's face. "Is something wrong baby?"

"Quiet!" Amanda quickly shushed him by covering his mouth with her other hand, her eyes looking intense as she stared off at nowhere. Randy looked at her in concern until her head moved to face a nearby tree. Randy followed her gaze, but didn't really see anything due to the tree's thick foliage. All of a sudden, Amanda raised her hand and moved it downward. Randy didn't understand the movement until he spotted a man-sized object fall from within the tree. Amanda used her telekinesis to bring the object forward, and as it got closer, it was revealed that it was indeed a man, a man that Randy easily recognized.

"Xavier!?" Randy said in disbelief as the man looked up at them from the ground with a sheepish expression on his face. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

"I'm here on assignment . . . I was actually sent after your mate this time around, but unfortunately, your girl found me before I could attack," said the demon as he looked at the pissed looking Anaconda. "You were very quick to pick up on my thoughts Ms."

"Thanks . . ." Amanda said sarcastically as she turned to her mate. "Randy, I think the doctor may be able to figure out an antidote for you after all if we bring your friend here to them."

"I think you're right babe . . ." said Randy as he shot Xavier a blunt. "And after I get better, you are so dead!"

"Great . . ." said Xavier as he let out a defeated sigh. "I figured as much."

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